Keep Your Eyes On Jesus

Scripture speaks of “…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrews 12: 2.

When Giuseppe Verdi produced his first opera in Florence, he stood by himself in the shadows and kept his eye on the face of one man in the audience – the renowned Rossini, the world’s most famous opera composer of his era. It mattered not to Verdi whether the people in the hall were cheering him or jeering him; all he wanted was a smile of approval from the master musician.

So it was with Paul. He knew what it was to suffer for the gospel, but the approval or disapproval of men did not move him… Paul wanted only the approval of Jesus. So should we.

So it must be with us if we are to please Him. By keeping our eye on Jesus we are not likely to suffer spiritual setbacks resulting from the allure of others.

The idea in the verb is that of looking away from one thing to some other thing. We must always have some object before the eyes of our mind, and very often it is an object that will cause the natural man to stumble spiritually.

Well it has been said that in looking unto Jesus we see in Him a model, and we begin to imitate Him. We see in Him the doer of the Father’s will, and we learn to do that will as He did it. We see in Him a willing sufferer for others, and we learn willingly to suffer. We see in Him a man that pleased not Himself, and we learn not to please ourselves. We see in Him a pattern of all meekness, and submissiveness, and gentleness, and kindness, and we learn from Him to be meek, and lowly, and gentle, and submissive, and kind, and humble — and thus it is that in looking to Him we are changed into His image from “glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Thus it is that in looking away from other objects we are prevented from imbibing the evil influences to which they have too long subjected us; and in looking to Him we are brought under the efficacious power of higher, purer, nobler, diviner influences. But the great feature in which the apostle presents Christ to us is His faith. He showed us how to believe, and believe even on this earth where there is everything to tempt our faith and to cherish unbelief. He showed us how to live by faith upon the Father, even in a world like this, that has cast off the Father. Let us look to Him then and learn of Him, let us look to His footsteps and walk in them, following where He has led the way, and planting our feet where we find that His have been planted before us.

Look unto Jesus through the lens of faith. Put your confidence in what He taught and did, and endeavor to do likewise. Jesus is more than a model. He is our Master first and as such, our model. Let others see Jesus in you today as your model.